Peter W. Rodino

Peter Wallace Rodino Jr. (7 June 1909-7 May 2005) was a member of the US House of Representatives (D-NJ 10) from 3 January 1949 to 3 January 1989, succeeding Fred A. Hartley Jr. and preceding Donald M. Payne.

Biography
Peter Wallace Rodino Jr. was born in Newark, New Jersey on 7 June 1909 to an Italian immigrant father from Atripalda, Campania and an Italian-American mother from Newark. He served in the US Army in North Africa and Italy during World War II, serving as adjutant to the Commanding General of Rome due to his fluency in Italian. After the war, he was elected to the US House of Representatives as a Democrat, defeating Republican incumbent Fred A. Hartley Jr.. Rodino became known as a North Jersey machine liberal who fought alongside the Civil Rights movement in the US Congress, authoring Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; he also authored the bill which made Columbus Day a national holiday, was a staunch supporter of organized labor, and was one of the last liberal congressmen to oppose the Vietnam War. As Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee from 1973 to 1989, he oversaw the impeachment process of President Richard Nixon in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal and spearheaded the successful efforts to impeach the President in 1974. In 1976, he was shortlisted to serve as Jimmy Carter's presidential running mate, but he was instead chosen to give his nomination speech. In 1988, he retired from Congress after 40 years of service, and he was succeeded by Donald M. Payne, the first African-American congressman from New Jersey. He died in West Orange in 2005 at the age of 95.